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The Empire of Draconia: A Brief Overview of the Fading Bastion of Humanity:
Sul-Dracon, The Timeless City: The vaunted capital of Draconia and one of the very, very few remaining examples of intact high human cities, Sul-Dracon, according to legend, was the former capital of the high human empire that once spanned the great skies above, knocked from the sky by the ancient wars that brought them to extinction. However, unlike its other brethren, Sul-Dracon managed a controlled descent to the grasslands far below, several other smaller cities which became the buffer fortresses falling with it down to the ground and all managing to land in a cohesive formation. Since then, it has stubbornly remained as a proud bastion of humanity...despite countless attempts made to crush and destroy it. A city still ahead of its time despite the age that has passed since its fall to the earth, Sul-Dracon is a city of towering spires and imposing metallic structures that pulse and thrum with pure, undiluted liquid magic, the architecture alien and foreign to anything in the world currently. Home to countless automatons, golems, and mechanical caretakers that have survived since the city fell which keep the city maintained and functional, it has been cannibalized by the current human empire, the original architecture juxtaposed by more modern buildings, hovels, and shops that serve as a reminder as to what races calls it home. Perhaps the only city in the known world to rival Mortheim in terms of magical and supernatural wonder thanks to the liquid magic pumping through the city’s veins which power fantastical floating spires, a vast, sprawling teleportation network, and the veritable legion of mechanical caretakers as well as countless other wonders, Sul-Dracon is a city of wonder, splendor, and magical awe....yet, it’s wonder is overshadowed by the horrid atmosphere that hangs over it. Its residents dour, hateful, judgemental, and racist of any races or peoples that aren’t human or similar enough, the humans of Sul-Dracon, much like the rest of Draconia, are a tough, gnarled breed, colored by generations of racism, violence, and sometimes even outright genocide that the current Emperor Julian is desperately working to overcome. ' ' The Buffer Fortresses: A series of four smaller, yet just as intact high human cities that flank Sul-Dracon on each of the four cardinal directions, the Buffer Fortresses form the backbone of Sul-Dracon’s unbreakable ‘Fortress wall’, four citadels of imposing iron and steel, the walls charred black and stained red through countless battles. Each of the citadels alight at all hours of the day with arteries of wondrous liquid magic much like Sul-Dracon, the buffer fortresses are similar relics of the age of high humanity, their walls warded against magic and physical assault alike to deter any possible threats to Sul-Dracon. Perhaps more famously, the buffer fortresses, owing to their nature as relics of high humanity, retain a measure of their former functionality, their magical reactors still operational and very much intact. While none are alive today who are willing to speak of it, it is said that the buffer fortresses can, in times of most dire need, form a great dome of shimmering magic across the entirety of the Sul-Dracon inlet, their reactors hardening the air into an unpierceable shield. However, this rumor is merely that...the last supposed use of such a fantastical ability was during the march of the Grand lich Barkhan several centuries prior to current day, where it was said to have activated to stave off his wrath. ' ' Ruined City Titan: The first and oldest of the ruined cities, Titan has been picked nearly clean by scavengers, looters, and even scholars and formal expeditions alike, all intensely keen on finding any leftover secrets of the ancient city for themselves. An ancient city, much like Sul-Dracon, that fell to earth, Titan was much less lucky with its landing...if the legends are to be believed. A wondrous, immensely magical city now devoid of both magic and life, Titan is a city jammed into the earth on its side like some sort of twisted, stone discus, making for quite an awe-inspiring sight from a distance as the view of a city on its side, its once-majestic stone spires, palaces and buildings, having once pulsated beautifully with veins of pure magic, now lifeless and cold...standing straight out of the ground like a half-buried toy of a giant. Home to goblins, orcs, and countless other monstrous races looking for shelter from the avid monster hunts of the Draconian Military, it is rarely even visited by civilized folk anymore, its halls having long since gone dark and quiet, reclaimed by time…. ' ' Ruined City Io (Eye-Oh): The second of the three great ruins that dot the lands of Draconia, Io is perhaps the most mysterious of them all. While Titan’s mysteries have mostly been peeled away, and Jupiter, while it remains mostly untouched, only does so by virtue of the terrifying defenses that yet remain active, blasting, incinerating, and obliterating any who dare to enter it...Io merely confounds those who wish to enter. Less of a city in the current era than a simple, featureless metal tower rising imposingly over a hundred feet into the Draconian sky, Io was originally a similarly sized city to Jupiter and Titan, and yet, all that remains is the tower, featureless and unmoving. Countless scholars have tried to crack its mysteries, and all have ended up returning in utter failure. Some claim it to be a high human safehouse, others the only visible part of an underground city, while others still claim it to be some high human device capable of untold miracles...the only truth about the mysterious tower is its steadfast refusal to let anyone inside, though some claim that, during their visits to the tower, they can hear otherworldly screams from within, snarls of demonic origin, growls of terrifying purport...and that they follow them, seemingly right behind their shoulders, as they return home...that the sounds never leave them for weeks. ' ' Ruined City Jupiter: The last and most dangerous of the three great ruins in the lands of Draconia, Jupiter, much like Titan, is akin to a massive city, slammed into the ground at an angle and half-buried underground, its spires and buildings long-dead and abandoned...yet, unlike Titan, Jupiter somehow managed to retain some of its core defenses, as countless Golems, Automatons, and other various defenses eagerly defend their city, clinging to the misguided hope their masters will return to them. None have succeeded in piercing the defenses of the city in any significant manner...or at least, none who made their victories public. As such, any mysteries or secrets thay lay within remain so, and the city has stayed a focus of great debate and desire for beings from all over Ea, longing to claim the undoubtedly great riches within the city as their own... ' ' Drakengard: Little is known publicly about Drakengard, save for it is the staging point for the infamous Draconian cavalry. The Supposed home of the ‘Wyvern Riders’ and even those who command such a force who ride and have bonded with true dragons, the true location of Drakengard is a military secret and is said to only be known by the Emperor of Draconia at any given time. Even the infamously powerful church is not privy to the location of this powerful military asset. Regardless of its secrecy, Drakengard is said to be a glorious, hidden wonder of a city/fortress(?), home to countless wyverns and true dragons, as well as riders and aspirants both, all living in harmony...something that is quite the rarity in Draconia. Notably, it is known that the Wyvern Riders of Draconia make no distinctions between race, gender, or similar traits, staking their entire beings on battle, and honor, leaving the judging of character to the dragons and wyverns who call the place home instead. As such, several inhumans have risen to prominence in the Wyvern Riders, and several of its commanders are said to command fearsome true dragons from the outer planes. ' ' Glendan: Glendan, more so than any other city in Draconia, is a city defined by constant, unending combat and strife. Built alongside a series of smaller villages along the southern border with the great Southern Desert, Glendan constantly deals with bandits spilling upwards from the desert, monster attacks, refugees coming up from the desert, and, recently, is completely and utterly overwhelmed with keeping any backlash from the recent civil war in the desert from spilling up into Draconia proper. Home to the highly infamous ‘Glendan Gorehounds’, the most effective Draconian land unit in the history of the nation staffed mostly by pardoned psychopaths, killers, and other undesirables given re-training in the art of human wave tactics and warfare, it is a fortress hardened by war, unending and brutal. It has earned a well-deserved reputation among the general guard and prisoner population both for being an assignment nearly guaranteed to kill you, the horrific battles the warriors there face from the desert meaning the fortress always has more room for prisoners and punished guardsmen and soldiers to join their ranks to throw headlong into the battles they face, without care at all for their lives and winning by sheer force of numbers. ' ' Volgarn: Volgarn is a city that serves a similar purpose as Glendan, save for its main target being the Inhuman Coalition rather than the desert. However, due to the nature of the relationship between the two nations, Volgarn has a much more relaxed, almost sleepy atmosphere to it when compared to other cities in Draconia, its large, sprawling walls and city layout perhaps misleading those who arrive there into believing it to be home to crazed warriors, much like Glendan. Instead, Volgarn is a city rife with vibrancy and life, a melting pot of species and races from all over the lands that come to trade and sell their goods in its sprawling bazaars and markets, its nature as a trade city making it a valuable target for bandits and hoodlums looking to make a quick gold. However, it is far from helpless, as it was initially made to fend off attacks from the coalition...meaning it is surprisingly adept at fending off attackers of a normal stature, considering it is used to ones of a more monstrous size. ' ' Scalemoor: The only port city in all of Draconia, Scalemoor serves a dual purpose as both a city of the sea, working an effective fishing trade while simultaneously serving a purpose as the main staging point of the Draconian Navy...though, many claim that the pitiful state of the Draconian navy means it's more of a joke than anything. Still, regardless, Scalemoor is a city built beneath the bones of a massive, now-extinct ocean predator, the titanic bones of the long-dead creature giving it a very unique vibe compared to other cities in the country. A city of many different heights thanks to the sprawling skeleton on which its built, Scalemoor is home to all manner of fishermen, sailors, drunkards, and military men at all hours of the day...as well as a deeply rooted criminal underbelly, harvesting the marrow of the skeleton the town is built upon, a highly potent narcotic said to induce bouts of extreme euphoria accompanied by extremely heightened awareness many liken to ‘ascension’ by those who ingest it, it is also nearly 100% addictive after more than one usage, and a terrifying 65% addictive after just one. It also has a long list of nasty side-effects such as mutation, insanity, lowered overall mental capacity and increased obedience, among others...which has led the local guard to wage a long-standing war against crime there.